


Ugly Sweaters

by thatwriterlady



Series: 25 Days of the Holiday Season [12]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Attraction, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Dean Loses a Bet to Charlie, F/F, Fluff, M/M, Professor Dean Winchester, Store Owner Gabriel (Supernatural), Ugly Sweaters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:55:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28134297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatwriterlady/pseuds/thatwriterlady
Summary: After losing a bet to Charlie, Dean has to wear a different ugly sweater every day in December, all the way up until Christmas. At first, he thinks it's going to be an awful, expensive, and miserable month, but upon entering a little privately owned store with the most hideous sweaters he'd ever seen, his entire world is changed. Maybe wearing ugly sweaters wasn't so bad after all.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Charlie Bradbury/Gilda
Series: 25 Days of the Holiday Season [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037259
Comments: 18
Kudos: 103





	Ugly Sweaters

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still playing catch up, but here's the story for the 12th. I hope you like it!

**Dec 12th:**

**_Ugly Sweaters~_ **

This sucked. It sucked big time. Dean walked in the store, inwardly cringing at the bell that rang overheard. If he had to lose a bet, he was going a town over to fulfill his end, he wasn’t shopping in town. He’d picked this store out because of the window display. He’d spent a good ten minutes standing outside staring at the garishly ugly sweaters on the freaky solid white mannequins before he’d finally sucked it up and gone inside.

“The place was small, yet it was quaint. There was soft Christmas music playing and the place smelled of cinnamon, but not the fake stuff. No, this was _real_ cinnamon. He spotted the oil diffuser on the counter. It pulsed through different colored lights which were pretty cool. Behind the counter, there were boxes of them. So the store sold these too. 

He moved further into the room, investigating the racks of different clothes. These were nice, higher quality than anything the big box stores sold. 

“I should have been buying my clothes in places like this, not Walmart.” He said to himself

“Hello.”

He jumped at the sound of the deep voice behind him and whipped around to see a very attractive man standing there. As attractive as he was, the horrible Christmas sweater he was wearing was what drew his attention.

“Oh, hi, do you work here?”

“I’m the owner,” He stepped forward and offered his hand. “I’m Cas.”

“Dean,” He shook his hand and looked around. “Nice place. Smells good too.”

Cas’ smile was amazing, and it was clear he was happy with the compliment.

“Thank you. Was there something I could help you look for?”

“Yes, actually,” Dean’s gaze went to the sweater he was wearing. “I’m actually looking for sweaters. Like the one you’re wearing.”

Cas looked down at his and when his blue eyes fell on Dean next they were sparkling with amusement. “You need an ugly sweater. You’ve come to the right place.”

“Yeah,” Dean scratched at the back of his neck and looked around. “I saw some in the window so I thought I’d see what all you had.”

“Ugly sweaters have grown in popularity over the last few years so I decided that I would monopolize on that. Mine sell very well because each one is unique, handmade, so they’re one of a kind. You won’t see anyone out there wearing the same one.” He spoke with pride. Dean smiled at him.

“Show me what you’ve got then.”

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Cas led him to several racks near the windows that were filled with a multitude of ugly sweaters.

“Who makes them? You said they’re all handmade. That takes a lot of time, and a lot of creativity.” Dean picked out one with Santa in a speedo riding a reindeer. They both had on sunglasses. Behind them, dancing, were five elves, all wearing speedos and sunglasses. He burst out laughing. It was horrible, yet hilarious. He took another one off the rack. It was worse than the first.

“My family makes them. We’ve been making them for years now, but when people started going crazy for them, we decided to make them. My mother and sister knit them, but I draw the design. Sometimes my brother helps with that. I will knit them too. I made that one.” Cas pointed to the second one Dean had picked out. It had dinosaurs on it.

“They’re amazing. Ugly as hell, but amazing.” Dean laughed.

“Are you wearing it to a company Christmas party?” Cas asked as he led him to the front.

“I sort of lost a bet,” Dean admitted. “I teach history at Colcott University and I bet one of the computer science teachers that she couldn’t get one of my fellow history teachers to go out with her.”

“Oh? And what was the bet exactly?” Cas chuckled.

“That I have to wear a different ugly sweater every day from now until Christmas.” Dean sighed.

“What?” Cas’ eyes went wide with surprise. “Why, this is November thirtieth! She expects you to buy twenty-five different ones?”

“Not twenty-five, I don’t have to wear them on the weekends,” He rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why I let her do things like this to me. I’m always losing bets with her. She gives me stuff like this all the time. At this point, I should know better.”

Cas chuckled as he took the two sweaters from him and neatly folded them. He tucked them into a gift bag before accepting Dean’s method of payment.

“I think these are great, so I’ll be back for more.” Dean promised as he tucked his card back into his wallet.

“Well, I look forward to your return.” Cas smiled at him and he was struck yet again by how handsome the man was. After saying goodbye Dean stepped back out into the brisk, late autumn air. Winter was around the corner and it was going to be a cold one. He pulled the collar of his coat tight around his throat and walked at a brisk pace back to his car. He might be spending a fortune in ugly sweaters but he would sure have fun wearing them.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

“Oh, Dean, that’s just awful,” Gilda laughed when she saw his sweater. “Why do you let her talk you into these things?”

“Eh, I’m used to losing to her at this point. It’s ugly, but it’s handmade and it’s really warm and comfortable. It’s the only one of its kind.” He’d worn the Santa in a speedo one for the first day. Tomorrow he’d wear the dinosaurs. Tomorrow evening he’d have to visit Cas’ store again. He was actually looking forward to that. There were so many other ugly sweaters to choose from.

“One of a kind? I can see why.” She teased. He rolled his eyes and chuckled.

“Yeah, well, I visited a privately owned shop where the guy and his family make the sweaters by hand themselves. I prefer that to the ones Walmart and Target sell.”

“You’re really going to wear a different one each day?” The more she looked at the sweater, the more details she saw. It was ridiculous yet funny.

“Damn right I am,” Charlie might be stubborn but he was even more so. A bet was a bet and he would fulfill his end, otherwise, the next time they made a bet the other person wouldn’t take it seriously. “Plus the guy that sold them to me, he’s gorgeous. I’m looking forward to talking to him again.”

“What does he look like?” She was now more interested in Dean’s crush than in the sweater.

“Tall, maybe just a little shorter than me, bright, blue, eyes, messy, dark, hair and a killer smile. His name is Cas.”

“Interesting. Are you going to ask him out?”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” He replied. “I have no idea if he’s straight or not, or if he’s married. I don’t hit on married men.”

“Was he wearing a ring?” She asked.

“I didn’t check,” He figured that when he went back tomorrow night he could check, not that it really mattered. Cas could still be seeing someone.

“What do your students think of your sweater?”

He laughed just thinking about some of the comments he’d gotten. “They think it’s hilarious. I told them I’d lost a bet and had to wear a different one each day til Christmas. They’re disappointed that they won’t be here to see all of them, so I told them I’ll pose for a picture each day so they can see them. I started a new Instagram for it so they can just go online and see.”

“Oh yeah? What’s your username?” She pulled her phone out, ready to look him up and follow him.

“UglySweaterProfessor,” He replied. “I already have about fifty followers, all students.”

“You have two hundred and thirty,” She turned her phone around so he could see.

“Wow,” That wasn’t something he’d expected. “I didn’t think ugly sweaters would be very interesting.”

“Well, make a game of it. Different poses for different sweaters. I bet you get a big following.” She suggested.

“You think?” He looked down at his current sweater. He’d just posed normally and his T.A. had taken a picture for him. What she was suggesting sounded like fun. “I can do that, but I’ll probably need one of you guys to take the pictures for me.”

“Yes. I can do that for you, no problem,” She smiled and pointed at his sweater. “I can’t wait to see what you wear tomorrow.”

He grinned mischievously. This could be fun.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

“Hello, Dean,” Cas greeted him as he walked through the door. The temperature had dropped and he’d put a sweater on over a button-down, though this was a simple gray pullover, not a tacky ugly Christmas one. He’d thrown a blazer on over it, belatedly realizing that he looked like a professor, something he tried not to do when he wasn’t working. “How did your sweaters go over with your friend?”

“She’s laughing hysterically, thinks she got the better of me, but she didn’t. My students loved the first two sweaters so much that they started complaining that they won’t get to see all of them.”

“Why wouldn’t they?” Cas asked.

“Winter break.”

“Oh, I see.” Cas smiled and nodded.

“So what I did was I started an Instagram page with the goal of putting up a picture every day with whatever new sweater I’ll be wearing. Right now I have about six hundred people following me, and I’ve only posted two pictures.” Dean laughed.

“Really? They like the sweaters that much?” Cas’ eyes were wide with amazement.

“They love them. I put the name of your shop in the description, I hope that’s ok. I’ll take it down if you want me to,” Dean said. “But I thought it might bring in more business for you.”

“I’ve had a few more customers today, and they all seemed interested in the sweaters. I put out some more just this morning.”

“I hope there’s something really interesting for me.” Dean teased as he followed Cas over to the rack of sweaters. He started looking through them, cringing at some, laughing at others. No matter which one he looked at though, they were very creative.

“I like to think they’re all interesting, but some are more so than others.”

“Oh, they’re all really interesting, but now that my students are so invested I want to make this as fun as possible.” Dean plucked a hideous, Pepto Bismol, pink, sweater off the rack and held it up. Reindeer in a chorus girl line, all with a leg kicked up, and Rudolph was in the middle. The word above said Merry, the word below said Christmas, and there were lights wrapping around each letter. It was horrible, one of the tackiest things he’d ever seen. He loved it.

“May I have your Instagram? I’m interested in seeing how your students are reacting.” Cas pulled his phone out and looked up at him with such a beautiful smile he momentarily forgot what the question was.

“Oh,” He blushed hard when he caught himself staring. “It’s UglySweaterProfessor.” He watched as Cas pulled the app up and typed in his username.

“This is fantastic!” Cas laughed as he looked at the pictures. Dean had posed normally for the first one but he’d deliberately struck a silly one for the dinosaur sweater. He read some of the comments, his delight bringing a smile to Dean’s lips.

“They love the sweaters.”

“They love you too. Your students all speak with great fondness.” Cas said as he pressed the follow button.

“I try to make learning fun, or at the very least, interesting. It helps them to retain the information better.”

“You’re planning to put up a picture for each new sweater?” Cas asked.

“I am. What do you think,” An idea came to Dean. “If I took a few pictures outside the shop? And maybe a few of the racks to post on there? It’ll definitely drum up business for you.”

“If it drums up too much they’ll buy out all the sweaters,” Cas pointed out. “But if you want to, go for it, I could always use the money. Are you buying what you’ll need for the rest of the bet today?”

“No, I-I’d like to keep coming back, if that’s ok.” Dean’s cheeks were even more on fire. Cas smiled and nodded.

“Of course that’s ok. I can put some aside for you, if I think they’re good for your bet.” Cas offered. 

“Yeah?” Dean smiled. “Thanks. I like getting to come back and look through them. Of course, I have no idea what I’m going to do with nineteen ugly sweaters, but I guess I’ll figure it out.”

“Wear them next year?” Cas suggested.

“I’m thinking I might get new ones next year,” Dean shrugged. “I dunno, if this goes well I’ll make this a thing each year.”

“Really?” Cas’ eyes sparkled with delight. “I’ll have to tell my family that we should get cracking on making more sweaters.”

“Yep,” Dean grinned. “Because you’re going to get a lot of business from me.”

“I like that thought. They’re not too expensive, are they?” 

“For one of a kind, handknit, sweaters? If anything, you’re not charging _enough_. They’re worth every penny I spend on them, and I am happy to have them.” Dean assured him.

“Will this be the only one today?” Cas asked as he took the hideous pink sweater.

“No, I want one more,” Dean turned back to the rack and looked through the others. There was definitely a larger selection than there had been the first time he’d come in. From the corner of his eye he could see Cas typing away on his phone.

“I’m texting my mother to tell her what’s happening. She has about ten or so she has in various stages of completion, and my sister has a few as well. I think she has a few finished ones she just hasn’t brought down here yet. I have one I’m working on too, it’s behind the counter. My mother knits lightning fast though. I’ll give her three drawings and three weeks later I have the finished sweaters in my hands. Anna, my sister, she’s pretty quick too, and I’m about as fast as she is. I finish about one every week to week and a half, but putting in patterns takes me longer. I might have to involve other family members if sales do increase. For now though, I’ll keep things as they are.” Cas explained when he noticed Dean watching him.

“Dm me on Instagram if sales get out of control and I’ll back off so my students don’t overwhelm you.”

“It’s fine,” Cas tucked his phone away and smiled. “I’m excited to see what happens. Worse comes to worst, I knit faster, and I get my aunts and uncles involved. I could probably get my one grandmother to help too. The other one can’t knit.”

“Oh, this one is awesome,” Dean laughed as he slid a dark gray one off the rack and held it up. There was a unicorn with a Santa hat vomiting out candy canes and other Christmas yummies. The unicorn’s head was oversized and the whole thing was just hilarious. “I want this one.”

“Will these be all?” Cas asked as he took the second one.

“For today,” Dean said as he followed him up to the counter. “On second thought, give me one of the diffusers. This place always smells good, I want my house to smell good too.”

“I’ll give you that, you’ve brought me continual business, and you’ve given me something to look forward to. I can’t wait to see what your students think about the one you wear tomorrow.”

“No, I want to pay for it,” Dean refused to accept it for free. “If this was Walmart, I’d say sure, give it to me, but I won’t do that to a small business owner. I can see the price is twenty-six before tax. Just add it on to my bill.”

“But, Dean,” Cas sighed. He got the feeling Dean would refuse to get it at all if he continued to argue. “Fine, but I’m giving you a discount.”

“That works,” Dean could tell Cas was just as stubborn as he was. “What’s the total?”

When Dean left the store he had two brand new sweaters, a diffuser, and two bottles of pure essential oils to use in it, but the one thing he didn’t have was Cas’ number. He’d have to see if he had a chance at getting it. He’d be back in two days, and that was another opportunity to find out.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

“Look at this,” Cas laughed as he turned his phone so his sister could see. “He has over two thousand followers now. People love the sweaters.”

“How are sales going?” Anna had pulled out her own phone and brought up the UglySweaterProfessor’s Instagram page. Like the other two thousand people were doing, she hit follow.

“They’re going great, actually. I’m selling a lot of sweaters, but they’re buying a lot of other things too. All of the special tee shirts you make sold out this week. Granted, Dean bought three himself, but university students snatched up the rest. I have to put out more tomorrow. I’ll have your share by next Friday, it’s just that the clothes are flying off the shelves now like they never have before.”

“All because a gorgeous teacher walked through your doors,” She teased. When he blushed she nudged his arm playfully. “Tell me I’m wrong. He’s gorgeous. He could model those sweaters and make them look good. Remember what Gabe looked like when he tried on that atrocious pink one Mom made him? He tried to model for your store and that didn’t work out at all.”

“So what if he’s gorgeous? He’s not modeling for the store, he’s just buying sweaters to wear at work and to put pictures up on Instagram.” He nudged her back.

“Duh, that’s what modeling is,” She scrolled through Dean’s pictures again. He’d been adding a lot more, but there was still one main one to show off the “sweater of the day” as he was calling it. He posed with students, with staff, but most were just of Dean, and most were silly. There were a few pictures of him without the sweaters, one where he was leaning back against a sleek, black, antique, car. He looked sexy as hell and she could see that was the picture her brother was currently staring at. “You think he could be interested? In more than just your sweaters.” Just like the little sister she was, she loved needling both of her older brothers.

“Oh, I don’t know,” He smiled at the picture of Dean standing by his car. They’d had an hour-long talk the last time he’d come to the store after he’d seen what Dean had pulled up in. He’d been fascinated by the car but he’d really just wanted a reason to have Dean stay longer. It never seemed like he was in a rush to leave, and he sort of got the feeling he might be interested. “Maybe? I don’t usually get men as good looking as him interested in me.”

“Well, you should, you’re gorgeous. I think you just settle, and you’re too good for that.” She stretched her legs out across his lap and crossed them at the ankles while she moved on from Dean’s account to Tom Ellis’. Damn, that man was _fine_!

He wanted to argue with her, to tell her that he didn’t settle, but he knew that nine times out of ten, that’s exactly what he did. In his experience, the really gorgeous men were usually full of themselves. He loathed narcissism. Dean wasn’t narcissistic though. Anytime he complimented the man, he blushed and averted his gaze. It didn’t take but a few minutes of talking to him to know that he wasn’t pretending to be humble, he _was_ humble.

“I would be happy with someone kind and thoughtful, that preferably doesn’t cheat or verbally abuse me, but if Dean was actually interested in me, I’d go out with him. He’s very nice.”

“Make the first move,” She said. “Don’t wait for him to do it. He might be even shyer than you.”

“He should be coming in tomorrow,” He smiled to himself when he thought about the eagerly anticipated visit. “I set aside a few of the new ones for him to choose from.”

“Then ask him out!” She tapped her foot against his elbow to get his attention. “Do it. You could have a hot date tomorrow night.”

“Doubtful,” He laughed. But the thought was very appealing. “I guess I can see how he reacts if I flirt. I’m pretty sure he’s not straight.”

“Do it, then text me,” She said. “I want to hear that you have a sexy date.”

“Just because I flirt doesn’t mean he’ll be responsive,” He pointed out. “Or that he’ll say yes if I asked him out.” 

“He’ll say yes,” She spoke with certainty, something he sorely lacked. “So stop trying to convince yourself that he won’t.”

He sighed and rolled his eyes. He really hoped she was right. First, he had to see if the vibe he’d been getting was accurate. If Dean wasn’t straight then, he would take a shot. You only lived once, right? God he hoped he didn’t make a fool of himself!

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Every time the door opened all day his stomach had done a nervous flip, as though he was expecting the handsome professor to come walking in. Usually on weekdays when Dean came, it was in the evening around six, and that held true today. It was a Friday so he honestly hadn’t expected Dean to bother coming in until Sunday. He was sure the man must have had a long week but when he walked through the door he looked bright eyed and was smiling. 

“I see you chose the Godzilla sweater today.” Cas laughed. He’d seen the picture on Instagram earlier and had been thoroughly amused by the image of Dean pretending to be on a bucking bronco at a playground. He’d been sitting on something that sort of resembled a mechanical bull, with a knit hat and scarf set that he’d purchased from Cas’ shop adorning his head and neck. He’d somehow managed to look gorgeous and adorable at the same time. Now, as he walked over to the counter he was not wearing the sweater. 

“It might be my favorite so far,” Dean grinned. “My students loved it. They’re now running a poll to see which is the favorite at the end of each week. It came in second after the bowling elves.”

“You’ve really gained a following on Instagram,” Cas had set down his knitting needles the moment Dean walked through the door. He wanted to give the man his undivided attention. “I saw there were two thousand as of last night. You’ve more than doubled that when I checked an hour ago. It looks like you’ve gained some attention from a few celebrities. Mark Sandoval liked a few pictures and commented on them and your following shot up after that. He had a bunch of other celebrities commenting too, but I’m sure you already knew that.”

“What?” Dean’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened. “No! I had no idea! For real?” He’d been ignoring his Instagram account so he wouldn’t be tempted to obsess over it and aside from uploading the picture he’d gotten Gilda to take for him at lunch he hadn’t been on Instagram at all. Now, as he loaded his account he saw that he was just a hair over seven thousand followers, one of which was Mark Sandoval. Chichi Prentiss was following him too. “Holy crap!”

“You’re quite popular, Dean. You’ve brought in a lot of business here too, for which I am extremely grateful. I made sure to hang on to some of the newer sweater designs for you. Everything on the racks has been bought.”

“Wow, really?” Dean looked at the rack where the sweaters normally sat. Cas was right, it was empty.

“I’m almost done with the one I’m currently working on,” Cas said as he stepped out from behind the counter and headed for a door near the back. He motioned for Dean to follow him. “When it’s done, I’ll hold on to it so you get first pick.”

“Aww,” Dean blushed. “You don’t have to do that. If you can make money off it from someone else, then go for it.”

“No, I’ll wait for you.” Cas pushed through the door and Dean followed. There was a rack full of sweaters waiting there.

“You hung on to all of these for me?” Dean asked.

“I hung on to six. My mom came by about an hour ago and dropped off the ones she and my sister just finished.”

“Any of these your work? Aside from the art,” Dean asked as he started looking through them. Each new one he looked at was sillier than the one before it. He stopped to look at one that had a giant bow on the front. It would have been ok if the sweater wasn’t the same color as Pikachu, and the bow wasn’t in royal purple. There was one behind it that caught his attention and he stopped to take it off the rack. “Who knit this one?”

“My mom,” Cas replied. “But again, it was my design.”

It was horrible and wonderful, all at the same time. There was Santa, in dark sunglasses, decked out in his red suit, though instead of riding in a sleigh, he was sliding down a rainbow. Presents were spilling out of his bag in a dozen different directions, but it was the words that made him laugh. _Merry GAYmas!_ It exclaimed. He read it again before laughing. 

“This is fantastic! I for sure want this one.” Dean hung it over his arm before diving back in to select another one.

“You do?” Cas was surprised.

“It’s funny, and Charlie will laugh once she sees it.” Dean chuckled as he pulled out a second one. This one had ornate patterns and snowflakes, but it had also been made to look like there was a tie and suspenders. It was tacky as hell. It was perfect.

“Oh? Is _that_ why?” He feigned disinterest but he knew Dean could see right through him. 

“It’s not the only reason.” 

“Those are the two you’ve decided on?” He asked.

“I need one more, I have a date tonight,” Dean replied. Just like that, any hope he’d had of Dean being interested in him disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“You, um, you can pick out any of them.” He couldn’t bring himself to look at him anymore.

“Which one do you suggest?” Dean asked. Cas glanced at the sweaters before looking away.

“It’s not my place to pick for you. Whatever one you wear, I’m sure your date will be amused.”

“I think...I’ll wear this one,” Dean plucked one off the rack and held it up. Cas could see that he’d chosen one with a llama in a Santa suit. It was one of his favorites. Dean laid it over his arm and turned to face him. “So, what time should I pick you up?”

His words took a few seconds to register. Cas turned to look at him in confusion. “What?”

“I asked what time I should pick you up,” Dean repeated himself, though he was smiling softly. His cheeks were red and it was obvious he’d gone outside of his comfort zone to boldly flirt like that. Cas laughed, delighted by this drastic turn of events.

“I close up in ten.”

“Sweet, then I’ll wait out front for you. Let’s get me ringed up so you don’t have anything stopping you from closing out your register.” Dean said as he held the door open for him.

“That was smooth, you know that? I’d intended to try flirting to see if you might be interested. Having you come at me out of left field like that, I thought my heart was going to stop.” Cas laughed as he led him up to the register.

“I’ve liked you since the first moment I walked in. I was trying to work myself up to asking you out. I decided it was time to either go big or go home.” Dean grinned as he set the sweaters on the counter and took out his wallet.

“So where are we going tonight?” Cas asked as he rangi him up.

“Do you like burgers?”

“I _love_ burgers.”

Dean grinned. “Awesome.”

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

**_Two Decembers Later~_ **

“Oh my _God_ !” Brittany exclaimed. “The UglySweaterProfessor asked SweaterStoreGuy to _marry him_!”

“You’re kidding,” Navya gasped. She ran over to her roommate’s bed and sat down to see her phone screen. “He really asked? It’s not just for clout?”

“Nope, it’s real, I’ve been following them for the last two years. I made sure to sign up for Professor Winchester’s LGBTQ U.S. History, 1600-1900 and then for 1900-Present. He’s the only professor here that teaches it. They’re really interesting, and he’s a fun teacher. I wasn’t the biggest fan of history in high school but I really like it now.” Brittany said as she liked the new engagement photo. Professor Winchester and Cas, the guy that owned the sweater store were both really hot, and their engagement photos were hilarious. They were both wearing the most hideous ugly Christmas sweaters she’d ever seen. The one Professor Winchester was wearing had little Tyrannosaurus Rex arms extending from the front of the sweater where the dinosaur was dressed up as Santa but the kicker was that this particular sweater had a hood, and the hood had a sail like a Stegosaur had. Whoever designed the sweater didn’t know anything about dinosaurs, but the sweater was funny nonetheless. Cas was wearing an almost neon blue one with snowflakes. The color was awful, though it wasn’t the _worst_ one she’d ever seen.

“I took those,” Navya said as she tucked a lock of her long, black, hair behind one ear. “They were eye-opening. Did you know he’s gay?”

“Yep, he said that was why he wanted to teach those courses because people aren’t informed enough. I took them because he’s hot, and I’d heard about the sweaters. Can you believe they’re both _verified_? I’m so jealous! I wanted one of those sweaters but I was outbid on eBay.” Brittany pouted.

“Wait, you can buy them on eBay? What about Cas’ store?” Navya asked.

“They’re handmade, and only one is made of each design, so they’re _really_ hard to get now. Professor Winchester auctions off the ones he’d already worn and donates the money to a bunch of charities that support LGBTQ youth and indigenous people. I heard he got enough money to build a school on one of the reservations, and then he and Cas went to help build it. How cool is that? But the sweaters usually get snatched up for a couple thousand dollars. No way can I afford that. If Cas manages to have any in stock he charges like, three hundred for one. It’s insane, but I would _kill_ to get my hands on one.” Brittany scrolled through some of the past sweaters. Every time one was auctioned off the professor posted a picture of the price, and then to where the money was being donated. He was _such_ an amazing person. Of all the professors at the school Professor Winchester had the fullest classes. You were lucky if you got into one. She’d had to fight for a spot in the second LGBTQ class, but all of his history classes were like that.

“So? Save up. You could win a bid if you’re aggressive,” Nayva said. “He has six currently up for bid and the lowest bid is eight hundred. It’s insane how many followers he has on all of his social media accounts. He got on TV too, did you see that?”

“Yep, I watched him on Jimmy Fallon _and_ on Good Morning America,” Brittany replied.

“Well, I have to get to class.” Nayva got up and went to her desk. The drawers doubled as her dresser. While she got dressed Brittany scrolled through Instagram for a few more minutes before putting the phone aside so she could put her socks and shoes on.

“I actually have another course right now with the professor. I don’t want to be late.”

“What course are you taking?” Nayva stopped putting her hair up in a ponytail to look at her.

“Early Medieval History. It’s way more interesting than I thought it would be. I was considering switching my major from psychology to history but I think maybe I’ll keep it as my minor. There were already _a lot_ of history majors at their university thanks to Professor Winchester. The school was actually turning away potential students now because it was at capacity. They’d both gotten in through scholarships because their grades were some of the best in the country. It was insane what a little popularity of one teacher could do.

“I tried twice to get into that class but it was booked before I’d even gotten to pick a single course for the new semester. You’re lucky.” Navya grabbed her phone and her bag with her laptop and notebooks.

“I know, I got the last slot for his four o’clock class,” Brittany stood up and tucked her phone into her back pocket before grabbing her own bag. “I’ll see you tonight? We’re still ordering pizza, right?”

“Yep,” Navya nodded as she headed for the door. “My dad’s sending some at six.”

“Sweet! See you later then.” Brittany said as they stepped into the hall. They parted ways, each heading to their first class of the day. As she headed for the history building she pulled her phone out again. Professor Winchester was the most sought after teacher at Colcott, and for good reason. She loved every course of his she’d taken. Today though she knew the class would be abuzz with talk about the proposal. She couldn’t _wait_ to hear it all!


End file.
